Tulia, Floydada meet in potentially critical District 1-2A game

By RYAN BLAKE THURMAN Herald Sports Editor

Published 6:06 am, Thursday, October 7, 2010

Two district rivals meet this week in a game that could eventually have playoff ramifications.

The Floydada Whirlwinds and the Tulia Hornets both head into their Week 6 match-up needing a win after both were handily defeated by District 1-2A leader Sanford-Fritch. The 'Winds fell to Fritch, 32-7, last week while Tulia lost 49-9 in Week 4.

A win for either team will keep them in the thick of the race for the playoffs while a loss will put them at the bottom of the standings and make reaching the postseason a tall order.

"When you start looking at the playoffs, its a pretty big game for both of us," Tulia head coach Randy Scott said. "We both need to win really. They got beat by Fritch really bad, and of course, so did we. I expect both teams to come out and play pretty hard."

Floydada head coach Todd Bandy certainly expects more effort from his team after last week's thumping.

"Every game we've got from now on is crucial to us," Bandy said. "We need to win every game we can."

To get ready for this week, Bandy said the Whirlwinds have tried to once again go back to basics to try and stimulate their somewhat stagnant offense. The 'Winds have scored over 20-points twice this season and had a two-season high point total of 32 against Post, but in all of their losses, Floydada has been held to 13 points or less.

Even with the knowledge that Floydada's offense has been less than great recently, Scott thinks Friday's victory will be the team that contains the other team's biggest threat.

"If you open the paper on Saturday morning, and Floydada gets 250-300 yards rushing, they probably won that game," Scott said.

And while the 'Winds will likely keep the ball on the ground, Tulia will go to the air.

"They are going to throw the ball a lot," Bandy said. "We need to tackle in the open field to keep them under control."

In addition to dealing with whatever Tulia brings this weekend, the 'Winds are fighting a battle to keep players on the field.

"We've lost kids to injuries, and we've lost kids to grades," Bandy said. "But we'll play with who we've got and go with them."

On the injured list is running back Rex Mathis, who Bandy categorized as day-to-day, while Greg Aleman, Troy Morales and Cole Covington are definitely out. Floydada also lost five players to failing grades.

On the bright side, the 'Winds will be getting starting center Anthony Garza back which could help bolster Floydada's running game.

"Depth is our biggest issue right now," Bandy said. "We can't afford any more injures. We're a little bit in survival mode. We need to get through this week with a win, and then get to the off week."

The Hornets are coming off their open week which Scott said was fortuitous in regards to injuries, but he wished the team could have played last week.

When you get beat bad (like we did against Fritch), I don't think it goes good to go two weeks without playing. We need to come out and play hard. It sounds simple . . . but I don't feel like we played hard in our last game."